Effort
by nobodD
Summary: Through a chance encounter, Chika has been training in secret to improve as an idol. But soon she starts to develop feelings for her special trainer. Without knowing her trainer's feelings, she only expects things to stay as is. But she's been working hard, and hard work finds a way to pay off in the end. Eli x Chika request, one-shot, AU.


**Eli x Chika, requested by Meep**

 **AU ahead. Mostly because I'm personally not sure where during the timeline Sunshine takes place. Whether Sunshine happens shortly after the original Love Live or several years after. So for safety, I'm labeling this an AU where there's only a few years of separation between when the µ's girls graduated and when Aqours began.**

 ***Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!**

* * *

It was a bright afternoon in Uchiura. Currently after school at Uranohoshi's Girl's Academy, the few but happy students went this way and that for their club activities. Their usual, everyday activities made a bit brighter by the presence of music that leaked down from the school's rooftop. There, the nine students that comprised Aqours, the school's aspiring idol group, were gathered.

The current song they were practicing came to an end, signaling a much-wanted break for a few of the members. After a few seconds of holding their end positions, part of the group fell to their knees. One of those tired girls was Takami Chika, the one who brought them all together. As she regained her breath, a towel and a water bottle were presented to her. She looked up, smiling in appreciation as she accepted both items.

"Thanks, Riko-chan."

Riko just smiled as Chika quickly undid the cap of the water bottle and brought it to her lips. By the time she drank enough to feel refresh, it was almost halfway done already. As she replaced the cap of the bottle, Chika looked around the rooftop. The other girls were either drinking or wiping off sweat from their faces, anything to help relieve them of the sun, if only for a bit.

Of course, the break only lasted for as long as necessary. Dia soon called to start again, and Chika along with the others jumped back onto their feet to continue practice. It would be a couple more hours before they would finish for the day. Most of the other students had returned home by this point, making them the only ones around as they reached the front of the school.

"Good work today, everyone," Dia said, turning to address them. "If we keep this up, we should be ready in time for the next qualifiers."

A mix of relief and excitement reached the faces of the first and second years, while Kanan and Mari had somewhat relaxed smiles. Dia waited a moment before continuing.

"We won't meet tomorrow, so make sure to practice a bit on your own. We'll go through the routine again the following day."

The others nodded in acknowledgement before the side-conversations started, talks about the mentioned qualifier or reminding about homework started circling around. As Chika was about to set off, she felt a hand on her shoulder stop her. She turned to see the smile of her senpai and childhood friend Kanan.

"Good work today, Chika."

"You too, good work today."

"You've been improving quite a lot recently. You're learning the moves a lot quicker than before, and your stamina is considerably better."

"Umm, thank you?"

Chika wasn't quite sure where this was going, until Kanan's face turned serious and she leaned a bit closer to hers.

"You're not overworking yourself outside of practices, are you?"

"N-No, of course not."

They were both still as Kanan regarded Chika, the latter doing everything she could not to seem suspicious in front of one of the members that has known her longer. Eventually Kanan seemed satisfied, straightening her posture while the smile returned to her face.

"Hey, everything okay over there?" You called, drawing both their attention over and seeing the other seven girls all looking their way.

"Nothing really, just praising Chika for her hard work, right?"

"R-right…"

Chika couldn't help but stutter her response, unsure of the situation herself. Thankfully, the others didn't seem to notice, leaving Chika to silently release the breath she realized she was holding. Again, as she was about to turn and leave, she noticed You and Riko come up to her.

"Hey, you want to take a walk with us before heading home?"

"Ah, sorry, but there's actually something I need to take care of."

You didn't hide her disappointment. "Can't it wait until later?"

"Sorry, but it can't. I'll see you both tomorrow though, okay?"

Chika didn't wait for the response, already turning to hurry off. You and Riko, as well as the others, watched as she ran down the street before quickly turning the corner. One voice summarized their thoughts.

"I wonder where she's off to in a hurry…"

* * *

Chika let out a breath of relief as she navigated a very specific route to her destination. It wasn't that she liked lying or keeping secrets from her friends, she quite hated it. But there were exceptions to everything, and this was quite a big exception for her. So much so, she checked behind her every so often as she went. She planned her route to be as hard to follow as possible, but it didn't hurt to be sure.

Eventually, she reached the place she had been looking forward to all day. On the outside, it was completely unassuming. She currently stood outside a sandwich shop and a family owned book store. There was a door between the entrance to one and the glass to another, seemingly the entrance to the living space for the store owners.

But that's if you didn't know better.

Chika did one more check from where she came, relieved to see no familiar faces, before entering the door. Instead of the hallway in front of her, she took the stairs next to it. As she reached the second floor, she looked down the familiar hallway, only two doors on either side. She made her way for the furthest on the left, pausing just before it. After all, she nearly to ran to get here quickly, but she didn't want to make that obvious.

She crossed the door's threshold, revealing the special room inside. Three walls in this room were fairly typical, white walls with a notice board and posters scattered around. But the last wall was different, as it was covered completely by two giant mirrors. Her shoes went from the carpeted hallway to hardwood floor within the room. To her left in the corner closer to her, a table with a single bag atop it. And the blond-haired owner standing beside it, turning as she noticed Chika walk in to reveal brilliant blue eyes.

"Ah, Chika, you're here a bit earlier than usual."

"Eheh, well our practice ended a bit earlier than usual."

"Is that so? But if I remember correctly, the one who runs your practices is very punctual."

"Ah, well…"

The lady smirked, and realizing she had been found out, Chika couldn't help but smile, even if slightly out of embarrassment. She walked over to put her bag on the table as the blond put the phone in her hands back into her bag. Turning to Chika, she gave a warm smile.

"Well, shall we start?"

She smiled as well. "Yes, Eli."

While maybe not to the same degree as the Kurosawa sisters, Chika was very much a fan of Muse. Even if that school idol group was only together for a year, they left quite the impression on the world. Look no further than Aqours, who are now trying to do for Uranohoshi what Muse did for Otonokizaka just three years before.

But never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined not only meeting one of those legendary members, but getting to work with them privately. All kinds of luck worked in her favor that day, not only to have run into Ayase Eli while doing self-training, but for Eli to offer to help her with idol training and conditioning her body.

There was some guilt Chika felt. After all, everything she's being doing for about six weeks now have been in secret, and against Kanan who didn't want the girls to overwork themselves at all. Again she didn't like keeping secrets from her friends, especially something like this. Being able to work with a former Muse member would've been a huge help for all of them. Not to mention an incredible experience being all fans and admirers.

That was before a few weeks in, when Chika quickly realized a change.

Very quickly, Eli established a rule similar to one she made to help Muse bond. She wasn't allowed to call Eli _sensei_ , in order to help Chika and get her to relax. Understandably, she was a few steps away nervous wreck her first day. At the end of it, Eli made that suggestion, and in just the following day it seemed to help. Just referring to Eli in a friendly manner made it easier to see her as a friend, rather than a Muse member she admired.

It seemed innocent enough at the time, yet even here and now, the lasting impact of it was showing. Not even in the casual greeting, but as the session went on. After stretching and a bit of vocal warm-ups, they spent less time than usual on endurance and quickly went into choreographed practice. Here, Eli would come up with a simple routine that Chika could learn quickly, then Chika would hum a tune or do a vocal exercise as she did it.

While it was simple, Chika would _happen_ to struggle here or there, and ask Eli to help correct her. Rather than showing her, Eli would slowly _guide_ Chika through the motions. Out of the six weeks these sessions have been going on, the last two weeks have slowly turned into this. Neither of them were complaining, not that they would admit that to the other.

Chika was aware of what she was feeling. She was a healthy high school girl after all. She didn't know if Eli knew how she felt, or how Eli felt about her. Though it was easiest and probably safest to assume that things would stay as is.

 _But this is why it's an important secret,_ she thought to herself. _The others can't find out about this._

* * *

Because Chika had practice with Aqours earlier, this was only an hour-long session. And while they were definitely helping, as she didn't collapse during the hour, she was still exhausted after it was over. After giving the high-school junior a bottle of water, Eli went over to her bag on the table. Usually she wouldn't leave her alone on the couch, but today was special. She could already see the notification light on her phone blinking, causing her to smile to herself. Unlocking it, she saw the message she was hoping to see.

"Hmm, you look pretty happy, Eli."

She looked up from the table, seeing Chika smiling at her from the reflection off the mirror, and quickly feeling silly for forgetting she could be seen because of that. She returned the phone to her bag as she turned to the younger girl.

"A bit. Say, you doing anything after this?" Chika simply shook her head, and Eli had to fight off a smile. "Then would you like to come with me for a bit."

"Sure, just not too late."

With that settled, the two gathered their bags and went downstairs. Rather than the front entrance Chika used earlier, they exited through the back to a small parking area. They put their bags in the back seats of Eli car before slipping in and quickly leaving the area.

Eli expected Chika's response, so while their destination was a bit of a drive, it was still quick to return to the Takami house. Soon enough they found themselves outside one of the fancier restaurants in the area. As Chika quickly realized what was happening, Eli easily relaxed the younger girl before she could say anything. They got out of the car and entered the restaurant, Eli noticing Chika's unasked question as she asked for a table for _four_ , but was thankful nothing was actually said. They were quickly shown to their table, and Eli less than subtly enjoyed Chika's nervousness as she sat next to her rather than across from her. She brushed it off by busying herself with a menu, prompting Chika to do the same.

"Ah, here you two are."

Eli looked up to see two familiar faces appear by their table, one of green eyes and purple hair, the other of blue eyes and ginger hair. As she was about to greet them, a very important detail crossed her mind. She turned to her left, her hand moving to cover Chika's mouth just in time.

"Don't scream, or you'll cut this dinner date short."

"S-sorry," she apologized as Eli removed her hand. Then her words reached her head. "D-date?"

"Eli-chi, you didn't tell the poor girl about this?" Nozomi asked, not sounding at all surprised as she sat across from Eli. Honoka sat beside her, directly in front of Chika as a result.

"It's good to see you again Eli-chan. And nice to meet you, Chika," Honoka greeted, her usual bright smile on display.

"N-nice to meet you as well," Chika stuttered, bowing her head, before it quickly popped back up. "Eh, you know my name?"

"Of course, Eli-chan has spoken a lot about you. How she's helping out a school idol trying to keep her school from shutting down." Honoka's smile somehow got brighter. "It reminds me of Muse."

"Actually, what you and the rest of Muse did was the reason I wanted to become a school idol." Her blush felt stronger. "Y-you've been an inspiration for us."

"Eh? But I haven't really done anything that special, you know?"

"Of course you have!" Without yelling, Chika's voice gained both confidence and admiration. "You helped save your school. You touched so many people with your voices, your message, your passion. Not many people don't know what you've done as school idols."

"Is that so?"

Chika almost couldn't believe it, that Honoka looked genuinely surprised by what she had just told her. Noticing it as well, Nozomi chimed in.

"Honoka-chan hasn't really looked at news or messages boards online in a while."

"Well why would I? If I need any news I can just ask you."

"That could be dangerous on a few levels," Eli commented, shaking her head.

Just then, their waitress arrived to take their orders, temporarily stopping their conversation. Once they had ordered, both Nozomi and Honoka started by asking Chika not to address them formally, just like Eli had weeks before. And just like then, it helped Chika to ease into the rest of the night. Conversation began again, mostly lead by Honoka as she asked Chika a variety of questions, from Aqours and its members to the young girl's interests. No longer nervous, Chika answered enthusiastically while even asking some personal questions back toward one of her biggest idols.

Alongside them, Nozomi occasionally chimed in while occasionally teasing Honoka, seemingly at random, while Eli was content to enjoy their company and work through her food. She didn't miss the occasional glances her two friends across from her shared, but she was in such a good mood tonight that she didn't let it bother her. Partway through, Eli excused herself to use the restroom. Not really thinking much of anything, she was a bit surprised when Nozomi entered a bit after her, catching her as she was washing her hands.

"Quite the junior, isn't she?" Nozomi asked, Eli not at all missing the unspoken meaning.

Eli nodded. "Yes. She's a hard worker, very passionate, has a lot of energy and positivity. She's almost like another Honoka, isn't she?"

"Eli-chi…"

She smiled. "Relax. I've gotten over her a long time ago."

Nozomi didn't respond right away, silently regarding her friend. When she couldn't find the answer she was looking for, she deciding to ask directly. "Are you sure about this?"

Eli nodded right away. "I've already thought a lot about it. It hasn't even been two months since we've met, but I'm pretty sure of these feelings already."

"Because she's like Honoka?"

"No." Eli turned to meet Nozomi's gaze directly. "I've worked with her closely for weeks now. While it's true they have some similarities, they're both different. When I met Honoka, she knew what she wanted. When she was serious, nothing could stop her. But Chika, she isn't there yet. She still needs the right help, the right encouragement. Just like only you knew how to help Honoka, I know what I need to do for Chika, and who I need to be for her."

Nozomi held still, seeing no contradictions. So, she smiled. "You better be careful with her, she's still young after all. Don't mix the past in and complicate her first relationship."

"I know. Like I said, I've gotten over Honoka years ago. And I'm sure I'm ready for this." Eli smiled. "Thanks for worry about me."

"Someone has to," Nozomi shrugged. "Come on, let's make sure our girlfriends aren't causing any trouble."

"She's not…" Nozomi shot her a look. "Well, not yet."

As she walked past Nozomi, she saw her friend suddenly smirk.

"Eli- _Chika_ , huh?"

"Shut up."

* * *

After a long, yet very enjoyable day, Chika finally found herself outside her home. She could already feel how good it will be to lie on her bed and relax, yet she didn't move right away. She sat in the passenger seat of Eli's car, glancing over at the blond. It had been an unusually quiet drive, and Chika finally saw that it was bothering Eli as much as it was for her. Neither knew what to say, both catching the other's eyes before looking away several times.

Chika wanted to say something, just to break the silence. But as she turned to, she was caught completely caught off guard. In that moment, she found Eli's lips pressed atop her own. It was very gentle, yet it set something off within Chika. Despite her inexperience, she easily responded in kind, matching Eli gently.

How long did it last? Neither really knew. All they could tell was that after a month, their patience had paid off. The uncertainty, the longing, all done away with a single kiss. When it ended, their faces only inches apart, all they could do was smile and enjoy.

"Hey…" Eli ventured. "Would you like to come into the city with me this weekend? Just the two of us?"

Chika couldn't speak, so she silently nodded, followed by another kiss. After that another one before the car door finally opened and Chika stepped out into the cool night. As the door closed behind her, both girls let out a relieved breath.

A promised date, and the start of much more, only a few days away.

* * *

 **Hey everyone, nobodD here!**

 **So I have to admit, when this pairing was first requested, I was kinda nervous. How in the world do I make this work? As I usually work on requests in order, I didn't dwell too much on this as I finished requests in front of it. Yet when I did finally reach it, it just kind of, happened. An idea just popped up, and the whole story followed. As usual, it took a few days, as I was doing other stuff as well. But still, this is probably the fastest I've finished anything in recent memory.**

 **To the requester, thanks for this. I had a lot of fun writing this one ^.^**

 **As for the story itself, nothing too fancy. The idea for the dance studio is from personal experience, and fit wonderfully into this setting. Upon reflection, I have never written anything where someone was essentially fangirling in front of Muse themselves, so that was fun to include. Having NozoHono as a side pairing gave that, plus the slightly serious scene between Eli and Nozomi to give context.**

 **Hopefully you enjoyed this story for an interesting pairing. I definitely enjoyed writing it. As always, leave a review to let me know your thoughts, or if there are any requests.**

 **See you next time~**


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